Fertility Foods – Fluffy Buckwheat Pancakes

A large study completed by Harvard Medical School has found that by eating certain foods – and avoiding others – women can boost their fertility.

When trying to conceive, it’s important to eat “complex” carbohydrates and limit highly processed ones. Bad carbs (such as cookies, cakes and white bread) are digested by the body quickly and turned into blood sugar, causing your pancreas to release extra insulin. Good carbs (such as fruit, vegetables, beans and whole grains) are digested slowly and therefore don’t have an immediate impact on your blood sugar, which is great news for your fertility as high insulin levels can affect ovulation.

An excellent way to incorporate complex carbs into your diet is with these delicious fluffy buckwheat pancakes!

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup of white whole wheat flour

• 1 cup buckwheat flour (your dose of complex carbs!)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• Pinch of salt

• 3 large eggs, separated

• 1 3/4 cup buttermilk

• 1 tbsp canola oil

• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

• Natural maple syrup

Preparation

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks, buttermilk and one tablespoon of oil until well bended. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until evenly moistened.

In a bowl, whip the egg whites with cream of tartar using a mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Fold gently into the batter.

Get a frying pan up to medium heat and drizzle a bit of oil on the surface. Spoon the batter mixture into the pan (for even pancakes, measure out the amount of batter with a measuring cup).

When bubbles come to the surface, flip the pancake over for about two minutes.

Serve with warm maple syrup. You can even add fresh fruit for more complex carbohydrates!

Makes 10-12 pancakes.

Source: Cooking to Conceive by Andrew Weil

Have some excellent fertility-boosting recipes you’d like to share? Send them through to info@monashivf.com